A sad day for Christchurch?

Last nights announcement that we will be losing our Chief Executive. at the end of the year following the appointment of a new Chief exec for the joint management team for Christchurch and East Dorset was a tough one to swallow.
My role in this matter has been peripheral. However I do think that in these times working in local authorities will not be for the faint hearted. We have to maintain front line services whilst undergoing a reduction of funds the level of which is unprecedented. Cost of local govt must reflect the economic times that we are in and in the cold light of day subjective rhetoric has to be second place to objective structured business management. I was not part of or indeed invited to be part of the interviewing panel but I was included in the overall assessment of how we were to provide the service to Christchurch residents that they have come to expect whilst trying to balance the books, as were all members whatever political group they represented. In Christchurch we have started from top down, saving money by streamlining the whole management structure first. It is very easy to target those people who have had this dreadful task but let’s not forget why we are having to do things like this, this has not been designed on a political whim, it is as a result of the country being led into near bankruptcy and as a result funding to local authorities being diminished to an extent that services are threatened.. My role will be to work with what I have got and with the new authority that I hope will stem from a new government, not bent on centralism but who will trust local authorities like Christchurch, to get on with the job determined by a local agenda to benefit residents. I cannot make time for personal observations aside from knowing that this administration will not be afraid of making tough decisions when they are needed. Those decisions will be made to protect front line services and maintain Christchurch as one of the premier locations to live and visit. A sad day indeed but also a new opportunity to prove that we can maintain the levels of service in adversity and be constructive enough to look forward and see that what we are shaping is a new value for money approach to local government.